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When the Floods Came

By Clare Morrall

Hardback

£17.99

A taut, gripping novel set in the future, when the lives of a family existing on the margins of a dramatically changed society are upset by a mysterious stranger.

In a world prone to violent flooding, Britain, ravaged 20 years earlier by a deadly virus, has been largely cut off from the rest of the world. Survivors are few and far between, most of them infertile. Children, the only hope for the future, are a rare commodity.

For 22-year-old Roza Polanski, life with her family in their isolated tower block is relatively comfortable. She's safe, happy enough. But when a stranger called Aashay Kent arrives, everything changes. At first he's a welcome addition, his magnetism drawing the Polanskis out of their shells, promising an alternative to a lonely existence. But Roza can't shake the feeling that there's more to Aashay than he's letting on. Is there more to life beyond their isolated bubble? Is it true that children are being kidnapped? And what will it cost to find out?

Clare Morrall, author of the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Astonishing Splashes of Colour, creates a startling vision of the future in a world not so very far from our own, and a thrilling story of suspense.

Biographical Notes

Clare Morrall's first novel, Astonishing Splashes of Colour, was published in 2003 and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize that year. She has since published the novels Natural Flights of the Human Mind, The Language of Others, The Man Who Disappeared, which was a TV Book Club Summer Read in 2010, The Roundabout Man and After the Bombing.

Born in Exeter, Clare Morrall now lives in Birmingham. She works as a music teacher, and has two daughters.

Other details

ISBN:
9781444736472

Publication date:
11 Feb 2016

Page count:
352

Imprint:
Sceptre

Morrall's superb imagination makes When the Floods Came hugely entertaining but the real power lies in the warmth of her writing and the charm of her characters. — Kate Saunders, The Times

Astute and vigorously imagined . . . frequently wise and deeply humane . . . After her Booker-shortlisted debut, and two historical novels, Morrall's accomplished move into speculative fiction marks her out as one of our most dependable writers. — Jude Cook, Spectator

Morrall envisions an all too believable dystopian future in a novel that charms and appals in equal measure. — Myles McWeeney, Irish Independent

The measured pace of the story is mesmeric; the wilfulness of adolescence excruciatingly well drawn — Gwyneth Jones, Guardian

Hodder & Stoughton

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Authors:

Clare Morrall

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Daphne Du Maurier

Favel Parrett

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Fiona Walker, whose novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers, leads the field as the voice of young, media-aware women. She lives in Somerset with her partner and two children plus an assortment of horses and dogs.

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